Masquerade (4)
The instant his eyes met that pair of odd eyes, the Executioner flinched despite himself.
And immediately afterward, realizing what he had done, he gritted his teeth.
‘...I got nervous? Me?’
It was impossible. It was something that could not, must not, happen.
He was the undefeated fighter the Beoncheon Society took pride in.
There was no way someone like him would grow tense simply because he met the gaze of an enemy on a similar level—not even the Beoncheon Society Leader, whom he had acknowledged long ago!
‘...Yes, I was merely caught off guard for a moment. I was only a little startled because something unexpected happened all of a sudden.’
Rationalizing it that way, he widened his eyes and took another step forward, glaring at the beast-masked monster.
Then he quickly analyzed the cause of the problem that had unsettled him.
‘The only thing that changed was his pupils. The rest of him is still bound by time. ...But how was he able to follow my timeline without even making contact?’
Then, all at once, he noticed one thing that differed from before.
That suspicious aura the man had emitted just moments ago.
The thing that had been corroding space had stretched all the way to where he stood.
‘Could it be because of this aura?’
Nothing was certain yet, but one thing was clear: dragging this out would be dangerous.
For now, it was only the eyes, but if this variable grew any larger, he had no idea when it might spread beyond that.
And if that happened...
‘...That would be a little troublesome. I need to end this as quickly as possible.’
Before it was left alone and the variable grew even larger than it was now.
He swiftly changed course.
Originally, he had intended to completely subdue the man for interrogation, but now was not the time to be so leisurely.
Even if it meant overdoing it a little, it would be better to finish things decisively first.
Having made that judgment, an aura like lava gathered in the Executioner’s right hand.
‘It’s best to avoid overexerting myself in this timeline if possible... but it can’t be helped. First, I have no choice but to deal with him somehow and leave.’
As an immense power moved within the halted timeline, the burden placed on his body as he maintained his unique skill began to snowball.
Until now, thanks to his lofty rank and his great demon’s flesh, he had been using his ability without much strain. But once he crossed a certain safety line, the absolute law known as “time” began to reach out even toward him.
‘I’ll tear off at least one of your arms with this!’
If he cut off the limbs one by one like that, then no matter how outstanding the monster’s reflexes were, he would have no way to respond.
The greater the accumulated damage, the longer regeneration would take. After that, all that would follow would be one-sided ravaging.
Puhwak—!
A hideous hand gleaming with a lava-like radiance dug into the giant’s chest, sending blood spraying into the air.
However, the expression of the Executioner who had launched the attack was not particularly good.
Until now, the opponent’s pattern had been to react immediately the moment a vital point was attacked, deflecting it with the least possible damage...
‘He deliberately offered up his vital point? ...Damn!’
But that realization came one step too late.
Kkudududuk—
As if they had been waiting from the very beginning, the biological tissues around the wound rose up and covered the right hand buried in his chest.
Bone that grew in an instant clamped down on his wrist like handcuffs, tough muscle coiled around his arm like chains, and infinitely proliferating flesh clung to him like adhesive.
Of course, because of the destructive energy lodged in his hand, the amount of necrotic cells was far greater, but in the process, it was inevitable that the attacking Executioner’s body would come to a very brief halt.
Clutch!
And that brief moment was enough.
“Kheuheut! Got—cha—!”
Enough for Harley’s two large hands to seize that right arm just as it was about to pull free from his body.
The time that had stopped slowly began to move again.
[Krr— You lunatic! No matter how excellent your regenerative power is, you won’t recover easily from that attack! And yet you just took it straight to a vital point?]
At last, when the slowed axis of time returned to its normal track.
What remained there was a beast-masked giant with a large hole through his chest, and a demon who, unlike before, had failed to withdraw immediately and now had one arm caught.
[Ha! If you thought this would let you keep holding me down, you’re mistaken. Do you take me for some brat who only knows how to run wild relying on his unique skill?]
Goooo—!
A thick aura poured from the Executioner’s body.
Although he was using his skill now out of necessity, under normal circumstances, he was someone who preferred to use the abilities he had built up as a demon.
No matter how extraordinary Harley’s vitality was, there was no way he could face him while weakened after taking a blow to a vital point that destroyed important organs including his heart.
“Kahahahat! Vital point? I’ve no idea what you’re talking about!”
Of course, Harley had not done this without thinking.
“Wow~ what an incredible coincidence, huh? As it happens, I changed the internal structure of my body a bit for a change of pace!”
[...What?]
“Man, I just felt like doing it for some reason, and then this coincidence happens! Kahahahahat!”
Because he had never been struck in a vital point to begin with.
His heart, liver, stomach, lungs, and so on.
The organs that should normally have been located in the chest had already been scattered to other parts of his body, such as his lower abdomen and thighs.
As though he had predicted in advance where he would be attacked.
‘Kgh, no wonder the sensation at my fingertips felt strange. Did I overlook it because of the peculiar nature of this bastard’s body?’
Only then did the Executioner realize.
This monster merely had a human shape on the outside; in truth, he did not even possess the slightest commonality expected of a humanoid life-form.
While acknowledging the man’s body, he himself had unconsciously been trapped by preconceptions.
Kugugugung!
The two beings faced each other at a distance where their bodies touched.
The energies surging from both sides collided violently.
No, it was not only energy that clashed.
[Let go! You leech-like bastard!]
“Krahahat! Don’t be shy, friend! I’m rather fond of struggle myself, so let’s have a blast together!”
[You...!]
“What’s wrong? Didn’t you want a battle with your life on the line? A true duel where flesh and soul collide, with blood and death flying everywhere! Krr! Now this is a man’s fight, isn’t it?”
An ultra-close-quarters brawl that made use not only of arms and legs, but wings and tail as well.
A tenacious exchange unfolded between the one trying to break free and the one trying to keep him caught.
Just as the Executioner had boasted, even without his unique skill, he was not an easy opponent.
His accumulated combat experience was one thing, but the flame-like energy boiling over from his entire body was more than enough to melt Harley’s tough skin, and the demon body optimized for real combat was, in itself, no different from a deadly weapon.
“Now then, first—”
However, if there was one misfortune for him, it was that his opponent could be called unrivaled in this particular field.
Like a boxer caught by a wrestler, he struggled desperately to break free. But unlike him, Harley, whose every mystery had been poured entirely into a single body, accepted every resistance with his flesh and proceeded to steadily crush the enemy who had fallen into his grasp.
“—shall I start by taking a bite while you’re still fresh?”
[Kkeu—! You monster!]
Saying that his belly had practically stuck to his back because of him.
Harley opened his mouth wide, and his saw-like sharp teeth dug into the hard scales of the demon.
***
This was not the first time he had encountered an ability related to time.
He had already experienced it once in the process of defeating the Beoncheon Society Leader who had invaded Auterica.
‘The details are different, but if you look at the big picture, there are many similarities.’
Back then, Heinrich, who had driven the holy sword into the man’s chest, had been able to briefly share in the stopped time just before the Society Leader used what was presumed to be time reversal.
It was thanks to the divine power that had penetrated into the man’s body through the holy sword serving as a medium.
‘It’s no different from that time.’
Instead of divine power, he used the madness of the abyss, and instead of injecting it directly into the body, he replaced it with the corrosion of space.
Of course, if that had been all, it would have been impossible, but the experience of having already succeeded once against someone far stronger than the Executioner proved greatly helpful.
‘And since it’s an ability used by a being of the same rank, the hurdle is lower too.’
Strictly speaking, the man’s unique skill was not “stopping the time of the world.”
If that had truly been the case, his avatars spread across other dimensions would have detected the anomaly.
The mechanism of the ability the man used was to slip outside the timeline flowing through the world.
In practical terms, there was little difference either way, but from the perspective of supernatural ability theory, there was plenty of room to intervene midway and forcibly drag him out.
‘The physical burden from using the ability is probably considerable too. The method he chose to alleviate that must have been demonization.’
Heinrich, who had been calmly analyzing while watching the battle between the Executioner and Harley, narrowed his eyes.
Kurururung—!
Under the storm of energy raging every which way, the artificially created space screamed continuously as it warped.
Even though it had been constructed by someone who could be considered a mid-tier transcendent using all manner of magic tools, it could not fully withstand the aftereffects generated by the collision of energies of a higher rank.
‘We did manage to land one hit, but... as expected, he’s not that easy.’
The Executioner had his right arm sealed and had even allowed Harley to devour part of him.
However, even after being forced into such an unfavorable distance, he did not collapse easily.
The instant Harley briefly exposed an opening in order to devour him, he immediately cut off his own captured arm and used time stop once more to escape.
‘He regenerated that arm in no time too. And after that, he became cautious about activating his ability, so the same method doesn’t work anymore... Well, even so, the resistance gained from using 「Gluttony」 alone is quite a decent result.’
Naturally, that resistance included resistance to “time stop.”
Thanks to that, Harley could now leave his consciousness in that timeline the moment the man used his ability, without having to pay separate attention.
Of course, he was still not at the point where he could move his body like his opponent, but considering that the possibility was gradually rising as time passed, the first objective had already been sufficiently achieved.
‘Use this opportunity to develop as much resistance to time as possible and prepare countermeasures.’
In truth, that was the greatest reason Harley continued to insist on fighting the Executioner one-on-one.
Since the opponent was a demon, naturally, if Heinrich stepped in personally, he would be able to deal with him more easily.
But in order to build up the know-how and resistance for dealing with “time” as he had hoped, Harley fighting while directly taking the blows with his body like that was far more efficient.
Because that was precisely his identity as the 「Ultimate Evolved Lifeform」.
‘The power the Beoncheon Society Leader handles is probably spacetime. The fact that we got to face the Executioner, who’s a lower-compatible version of him, before properly clashing with the man himself is nothing short of luck.’
In order to deal with Harley, who charged in recklessly, the Executioner had no choice but to keep using that ability.
Since perfect resistance had not yet built up, Harley’s body was gradually becoming more and more battered as the battle went on, but considering that the progress of his “adaptation” was increasing sharply in proportion to that, it was not such a bad situation.
“Kahahahat! What’s this? You could fight this well all along, and yet you were holding back? Come on, let’s play some more, friend!”
[Hah! No matter how many times I cut you down, there’s no end to you. Where in the world did a horrifying monster like you crawl out from?]
“That’s pretty harsh coming from a demon! Aren’t monsters and demons all more or less the same?”
[Ha! This time, I’ll cut off your head for sure. Let’s see if you can still wag your tongue after that!]
The Executioner, actively utilizing the transcendent ability of time stop, was beginning to seize victory against Harley.
As expected, even if their ranks themselves were similar, the presence or absence of a unique skill seemed to decide the outcome.
Harley, whose very existence was the product of the unique skill 「Avatar」, did not have any decisive finishing move unlike him.
“Struggle... struggle, is it...”
Heinrich, who had been watching him from outside the battlefield with cold eyes, let out a faint sneer.
Now that he was observing like this, the irony of those words struck him all the more strongly.
‘He didn’t want a struggle. He wanted to enjoy a safe thrill.’
His very ability had been a mass of contradictions from the start.
A life-and-death struggle while possessing insurance that could guarantee his safety in any situation? How could that possibly make sense?
It was no different from riding an amusement-park attraction equipped with every safety device imaginable and savoring a brief thrill.
‘Maybe that’s why he enjoys more dangerous situations.’
After glancing that way for a moment, he swiftly turned around.
Since both sides were optimized for endurance, it did not seem as though the battle would be decided anytime soon. There was no need for him to keep watching as well.
As a precaution against any unforeseen event, Heinz II alone—who could grasp the flow of causality in real time—was enough to monitor the situation.
“Let’s see, then in the meantime I’ll…”
Harris had already begun analyzing the method used to seal off this space, even employing the 「Muyupal Gwae Bigong (Modified)」, which was a natural counter to formation-type barriers.
And with the Immortal King Hans, the dragon Horus, and the other magic-type avatars putting their heads together as well, some result would come of it one way or another.
“…I should clean up the remaining ones.”
From the holy sword in his hand, a great blade of light took shape amid a dazzling radiance.
At the same time, three great pairs of wings spread wide, and a halo poured from his entire body.
Divine power so dense that even the aftermath of the demonic battle raging on one side of the battlefield melted away and vanished before it.
At that immense presence, some of those who had been staring blankly at that transcendent battle turned to look in his direction.
“I’ll have to move diligently. There are still six left.”
Lightly sweeping his gaze over them, he gave a small shrug.
It was the first real battle of Heinrich, the angel from another world.
***
“What in the world is…”
An murmured blankly as she faced the situation that had suddenly changed so drastically.
Even when she had used ‘Fate Manipulation,’ she had only been acting out of sheer desperation. Who could have known that things would truly turn out like this?
‘…Masquerade?’
She had already thought it remarkable that they had helped through Ken.
After all, being able to see through the circumstances of this distant place in such detail was no ordinary feat.
But what was happening now far exceeded anything she had imagined!
‘They can face the Executioner head-on? And there’s more than one powerhouse at that level…?’
Without realizing it, she swallowed hard.
The hope that had been utterly parched only moments ago began to well up little by little.
And as if to symbolize the expectations sprouting within her heart—
Flaaash—
Along with a blinding dawn light,
an angel descended upon the earth.